Tuesday, November 27, 2018

The garden of Jeff Pavlat, an Austin Fling "extra"

This, the garden of Jeff Pavlat, is the last of the "extra" gardens I saw after the Fling proper ended last May. Jeff is working at Zilker Botanical Garden (my post on the Botanical Garden is still coming) and as I understand it, his involvement there has meant letting his personal garden slide a bit. Because of that he wasn't on the Fling tour itself, but this was still an amazing garden, and I'm thrilled to get to share it with you.

The blooming end of the Agave above disappeared into the tree.

This was a very spiky garden...

I would love ABSOLUTELY LOVE to be able to grow a trunking tree opuntia. I can't even begin to imagine...

Heading down the driveway of the house now. The earlier photos were from the street-side above. That's Victoria Summerley staring in awe at the giant cholla.

It was rather awe-inspiring.

As was the agave bloom-spike. They're always amazing.

Retaining walls of various stone materials edge the driveway as it plunges down into the property.

That's the blooming agave I started this post with, back up street-side.

Pretty fabulous, right?

At the end of the driveway you see the first of several greenhouses. We'll come back here in a bit, first we need to check out that stairway on the left.

Agave bracteosa

When I saw these pedestals I had the strangest sense of déjà vu. It took me a minute, but suddenly I realized why.

20 comments:

Spiky indeed! And right up your alley. The thought of planting huge agaves like those is both exciting and somewhat terrifying. If only I could have my back slope terraced...I love the greenhouses, especially the second one.

I love the hardscape in this garden. It gives structure but, because of the variety of materials and a bit of weathering, it looks a bit more natural. Lots of cool plants and not one but two greenhouses. Glad to hear it wasn't you who required a bit of bathroom surgery.

Hi Loree—have been reading your blog for quite sometime now, and we all have reasons to live where we do. But from your comments I can’t help but think you’d be happier living in a warmer, dryer climate, like S. California.

Hi Steve! I would LOVE to live in SoCal. But my husband's very good job is here in Portland. When we have conversations about living in SoCal or AZ water (lack of) is something that comes up a lot. He's a cautious one and thinks leaving this area for one with less water would be foolhardy.

I've never seen a yucca tall enough to have it's "coat" removed! I love the bare trunk at the bottom, changing to the shaggy "coat", then to the growing top -- it's perfect! The trunked opuntia is hurting my brain, as it doesn't look like it should be possible...

I'm assuming the greenhouse plants get moved outside at some point, right? Because I'm guessing the heat would be unbearable by late May/June. Lots of gorgeous hechtias/dyckias. I thought you seemed remote on the Fling ("heavy grief fog") and I hope that's clearing. I still feel Ein trotting at my feet every single day, and still think to go find him to load into the car when we do an errand. This looks like a spectacularly spiky garden, so glad you got to visit.

The fog is clearing, it was such a strange time. Good to be among friends and with my days planned out for me, but I was in an altered state. Did Ein get to ride in the front seat? I can just see him looking up and out the front window (since I imagine, like Lila, he was too short to see out the side window).

That is a striking wall design with the different materials; added interest without interfering in the overall design. Some striking plants but a little scary for me with all those really sharp spines. Can't imagine a Cholla in my garden. But you must have been in heaven.

I'm with Peter, loving the hardscape of this garden. The Yucca "trees" are amazing. How long does it takes them to get so tall, and could the bloom topples them over? A stunning cacti collection in the green houses. I wonder what's the specific protection cacti require.

I've never heard of a bloom toppled Yucca rostrata, and I can't say how old these are. Here in Portland they don't seem to attain that height. I imagine the cactus are in the greenhouses to protect from winter cold. Austin can have freezes (in fact they already have this year) and snow isn't unheard of.

Six years ago I think I imagined you there and knew you would love it. So good Pam worked that out with Jeff. The stone walls and angled driveway are such a good use of the slope and showcase his spiky plants beautifully. Thank you for the mention and photo link.